Chapter 7
Fiona
It had been over two weeks since my attack.
I was able to return to work shortly after, but since Theo was still on the run, I was assigned my own bodyguards.
At first, I felt uncomfortable with all the fuss, denying any need for it.
Then I had my first day back at work. When it was time to leave the office, I stood frozen in the lobby, the dark pavement seeming miles longer than usual.
Before I could work up a good panic, Bash stepped into view.
The relief I felt at seeing him waiting outside to walk me to my car was immeasurable.
Since then, we had developed a routine of sorts.
Usually, Match was with me in the morning.
I always made sure to make breakfast since he was a bottomless pit.
He would come up for food and coffee, then he followed me to the office, not riding away until I texted that I was on my floor.
Match and I developed an easy relationship. He felt like a younger brother to me.
It took some time, but eventually, he started to open up and share bits and pieces about his past with me.
Match was raised in the foster care system, eventually finishing high school in a group home for teenagers.
Right after graduation, he began prospecting with the Reaper’s Guard, and was patched in very recently.
We both liked comic books, which led Match to reveal his talent for drawing.
It was something he hadn’t shared with anyone, and I could tell by how pink his ears got whenever we talked that he was extremely protective of it.
It took a lot of badgering, but finally, he brought his sketchbook over to show me. I was blown away.
My mornings with Match were easy. They helped me get ready for the day.
His presence was unthreatening and entertaining.
The evenings, though, when I left my building and found Bash waiting for me, felt completely different.
Especially after I forced him to sleep next to me because I had a nightmare.
As embarrassed as I was, it was the best night’s sleep I had gotten in years.
Having him next to me made me feel protected and cared for, surrounded by his strength.
I didn’t have much experience with men, especially anyone like Bash.
The past few years, there were male coworkers or roommates I got along with, but I never really entertained the idea of anything sexual or romantic with them.
I was always so busy with work or school, it just never fell high enough on my list of priorities.
Dating in high school was enough to sour me on the whole experience.
Growing up, I mostly kept to myself. It was a small town, and everyone was in everyone else’s business.
It wasn’t exactly like my mom and dad were glowing examples of a good relationship.
It became abundantly clear that neither of my parents was truly committed to the other, frequently stepping out and having affairs.
I got jumped in school a few times by pissed off kids because my mom had somehow interfered in their parents’ marriage.
Then, as I got older, my mom’s reputation for being easy was transposed onto me.
The one time I did try to date, it was incredibly short-lived.
I was a sophomore in high school, and there was a boy, Marty, in the grade above me who started showing interest in me.
I ignored him at first, politely turning him down, but he was persistent.
He wasn’t one of the popular kids. We first met in an advanced algebra class.
He was nice and not too aggressive. Finally, I agreed to go on a date with him.
He took me to the movies, paid for my ticket, and popcorn.
He had jumped around the car to open the door for me, and I remember feeling giddy when our hands touched throughout the film.
On the ride home from the theater, I kept wondering if he was going to kiss me good night.
I had never been kissed before. I was so distracted by nerves that it took me a minute to realize he wasn’t heading in the right direction.
When I asked him what he was doing, he just shushed me until he pulled over into an abandoned field miles away from any houses.
Before I could ask him what was going on, he was on top of me.
His hands were clammy as they grabbed me, and his tongue was unwelcome as he thrust it into my mouth.
I tried to push away, but it just gave him more room to grab at me.
His grip was rough, and I felt trapped. I managed to get a leg up and kneed him somewhere in the abdomen.
I scrambled out of the car and used the tall stalks of the corn field to hide.
Marty was yelling out his window, complaining about how nice he treated me and that if I were anything like my mama, I would have put out a while ago.
He gave up looking for me, eventually driving away, leaving me to walk the four miles home in the middle of the night.
The following Monday, when I got into school, it was clear Marty had already spread his version of events.
Apparently, I slept with him in the movie theater, so gracious that he bought my ticket.
It didn’t take long before I gained a reputation for being a slut, with waves of boys asking me out, expecting an easy lay. I never said yes to any of them.
When I left for college, it was easy to keep to that rule.
I had been asked out on dates before, but I usually came up with a reason to decline, and that was enough to curb any additional pursuit.
After graduating and moving into my own apartment, I decided to give dating a second try.
In that time, though, I had only gone out on a couple of casual dates.
But none of them went further than a coffee or dinner date, with maybe a kiss goodnight.
Now, I was still a virgin with barely any dating experience.
It didn’t escape my notice how attractive Bash was.
I reacted to him on multiple levels in a way I had never felt before.
After following me home from work, he waited in the parking lot until I waved from the window.
I saw women from my apartment complex coming out to talk to him on more than one occasion.
I tried to dismiss any ideas I had about Bash, no matter how attractive I found him.
There were so many things about him that made him off-limits and just a risk in general.
He had so much more experience than I did, and lived in an entirely different world, one that seemed foreign to me.
Not to mention, he was Charlie’s brother.
I may not have been the foremost expert on friendship, but I knew I didn’t want to risk hurting Charlie based on a fantasy in my head.
That didn’t mean I didn’t spend all day looking forward to seeing him, to those few moments we were alone together when he walked me to my car.
Memories of waking up sprawled across his chest assailed me whenever our bodies were close.
Thoughts of the upcoming weekend kept me distracted as I was leaving work.
Charlie had texted me earlier that she couldn’t make it to girls’ night, but that she would see me the following day for dinner.
Shortly after, I received a text from Cece, inviting me over for family dinner, and I wasn’t sure what to bring.
By the time I exited my building, I stopped short.
Bash was nowhere to be found, and there weren’t any other Brothers around.
I felt frozen, and like I couldn’t breathe.
I was clutching the door to my building behind me, unable to take a step toward my car.
Despite the spring heat, I was ice-cold.
I took out my phone, debating calling Charlie or even Match, but as I scrolled through my contacts, I started to panic more.
I always knew the protective detail wasn’t permanent. I had gotten myself to and from work alone for years. I could do it again. Becoming dependent on so many people was weakening me, and I couldn’t afford that.
Channeling my panic into anger, I pushed myself away from the office and walked as fast as I could toward my car. I had started parking further away, enjoying the extra time it meant with Bash, but suddenly, I was cursing myself over it.
As I was nearing my car, a loud rumble echoed around me as a large SUV peeled into the lot.
The car stopped just short of where I was standing.
I couldn’t see anything; the headlights were blocking my view, and I wasn’t sure what to do.
My heart was pounding against my chest, and sweat was pouring down my spine.
I wanted to run, but my knees were shaking.
A familiar voice said my name, and then Bash was striding toward me. I hadn’t seen him exit the car, and it took me a minute to hear anything he was saying over the roaring in my ears. In what felt like a moment, he was standing in front of me, his hand cupping my face.
“Fee, baby, look at me. Breathe with me.” He took my hand and put it on his chest. I focused on the steady beat of his heart under my palm and timed my breathing to match the rhythm of his.
His skin was rough and scarred, there was dirt and grease under his nails, but nothing had ever felt better or more comforting in my life.
My hand spasmed beneath his as I tried to ignore the urge to pull him closer.
“I’m sorry!” I gasped out, embarrassed by my extreme reaction.
Bash closed the space between us and pressed his forehead against mine.
All of a sudden, my body was shaking for an entirely different reason.
I didn’t know which one of us moved forward, but the next moment, his lips were on mine, his hand sliding to grip the back of my neck.
I stood up on my tiptoes to try to get closer to him, both of my hands fisting in his shirt.